Time is a concept that cannot be purchased, exchanged or redone. So Indian Mills School has given students all the time it can afford.
Along with implementing distance learning plans during the pandemic, the school community has agreed that allowing students to complete assignments within a loose schedule has led to positive results.
“Parents are working during this and having a child at home is a challenge,” IMS Principal Nicole Moore shared. “We had a flex Friday for everything to breathe.”
On Fridays, no new assignments are given, with the exceptions being those that engage students in a relaxing activity (read with a family, share photos of playtime, etc.). Instead, students are encouraged to use the day to catch up on assignments – or simply breathe.
Moore emphasized each grade level has its own approach to social-emotional learning and providing opportunities for students to talk openly about how they are feeling.
Preschool teacher Stephanie Goldstein has engaged her students by assigning a letter each day and having the kids seek out items within arm’s reach that start with that letter. They also recite the letter’s sound.
Goldstein has also followed her students’ progress by opening the lines of communication to   parents who can reach out when they or their child are stressed.
“We make a schedule to help the child go throughout their day to see how I can help out to show how our school day was run, so they can do that similarly,” she said.
Kindergarten teacher Theresa Gibbons and second grade teacher Jennifer Henderson have both encouraged parents to submit photos of the students working so they can learn how their friends are doing. Gibbons said it has become a conversation piece for her students, who were noticeably more amped up for Zoom (video conference software) meetings.
Some students have expressed feelings of sadness, so Moore said a network of counselors has been set up for a teacher or parent to contact if a child either is not checking in on Google Classroom (the online learning platform through Google’s G Suite) or has difficulty addressing assignments.
“Our school counselors and teams are making sure the children who are at risk are being contacted constantly and getting therapy, virtually, to let them know we haven’t disappeared from their lives,” Moore added.
Student struggles, however, were mostly attributed to learning the curriculum via a computer, first grade teacher Lauren McLaughlin opined. Most of the connectivity issues have been resolved, she added, and teachers sign in to their classrooms to notify students they are available for help.
Some of the stress has affected teachers personally.
“Some days are OK, some days are really hard,” third grade teacher Jessica Simon admitted. “We go into meetings to make connections. Having that taken away has been harder on me than what I thought it would be.
“I know that I yearn to make a connection with [students and teachers] every single day.”
“This is a time where we’re all adjusting to changes, and it’s really trying to stick to some form of a schedule here and be there as much as I can for the parents, but also be a mom for my children and a wife to my husband,” Goldstein shared.
Many teachers have found ways to connect to their students — ways they themselves have not thought of before.
Patricia Durelli, who teaches fourth grade, said the cartoon “Spongebob Squarepants” became a way to connect with her students as they are watching it on TV. She recalled watching the show with her own children in the early 2000s.
“I looked up when Spongebob started and in the message [to students], I said, ‘Fun fact: Do you know it initially aired on Nickelodeon in 1999,’” Durelli said of the interaction. “It was a way of touching the students personally, and I loved the show, and they learned a fun fact about it.”
Allowing students to see their teachers outside of the classroom has made the remote learning experience more personal; educators’ mailboxes flood with images of students enjoying assignments and the new method of education.
“Our professional community has come together in a time of crisis in a way I have never seen in my 19 years here,” Moore noted. “It has exploded in a way I have never imagined, and it makes me proud.”
